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WASHINGTON — An overwhelming majority of Americans are convinced that sea-level rise resulting
from climate change poses a significant threat to the United States and that coastal communities
should invest in preparing for the risks, according to a survey released last week by Stanford
University.

The study was conducted with memories fresh of superstorm Sandy’s vast damage and protracted,
expensive rebuilding, whose cost was picked up largely by taxpayers.

Although past surveys have asked Americans if they accept climate change to be a global reality,
the survey by Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment focuses on attitudes about one of its
effects — sea-level rise — and the options to deal with it. The responses, taken together,
indicated that most Americans no longer are willing to accept a hands-off approach to continued
coastal development that will get battered repeatedly by rising seas.

“People want preventive action,” said survey director Jon Krosnick, a senior fellow at the
institute and a professor of communication, “and few people believe these preparations will harm
the economy or eliminate jobs. But people want coastal homeowners and businesses that locate in
high-risk areas to pay for these measures.”

Counties along the shoreline, not including in Alaska, make up less than 10 percent of the
country’s total land area. But they are home to 123.3 million people, or 39 percent of the
population. The coastal population is expected to grow by8 percent, or 10 million people, by 2020,
according to a recent study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The nationwide poll of 1,200 people found that 82 percent think the world’s temperature is
rising, and 73 percent said that the associated sea-level rise poses a threat to the United States
now and in the future. Nearly three-quarters of respondents said they think sea-level rise will
worsen storm damage.

Asked whether coastal communities and states should prepare for the effects of sea-level rise
or, given the unpredictability of weather events, wait to assess the impact, 82 percent favored
preparation.

More than two-thirds of respondents said that coastal communities should foot the bill for
boosting their defenses against sea-level rise. All taxpayers now subsidize flood insurance bought
by residents of coastal communities, and taxpayers then pay billions of dollars in evacuation and
cleanup costs.

“The question is, how does public support for preparation translate to action?” said Meg
Caldwell, executive director of the Center for Ocean Solutions, a Monterey, Calif., group that
co-sponsored the survey.